Some of my first attempts at a knee stretch and v-sit

To add to my manic month of May, I’ve been working with Tempo Pilates as their X-press blogger trying out their new high-intensity interval training x-press reformer pilates classes (say that 3 times fast…).  I saw the opportunity posted a few weeks ago on twitter and so I applied and got the job! Yay!

My “work” takes me to their WC2 studio in Gymbox Covent Garden three times a week for my muscles to be pushed to their limit in the seemingly short classes.  If they were 46 minutes I would have quit by now. Trust me, 45 minutes is well enough.

The thing about reformer pilates is you are doing all these moves and exercises on a constantly moving machine. I’m used to holding a plank on the ground of some park in London. Avoiding bugs and worms has been my biggest worry until now.  On the reformer machine you are constantly moving against the springs so every pose is amplified in difficulty and result.

Mrs. Stewart-Davies-Blog. Why pick one surname?

I’ve loved the challenge of focusing on the 6 key principles of Pilates: concentration, control, centering, efficiency, precision, breathing.  Last week I finally held the plank for 2 minutes and I was constantly cycling through these principles in my head checking I was doing each one to the best of my ability.  The best part about the x-press classes though is it isn’t all boring concentration and slow movements. It combines Pilates method with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) so we’re usually mixing the Pilates moves up into tabata style workouts with steps and crunches and so so so many push-ups and shoulder raises that I am not sure I’ll ever be able to “push” open a door again.

If you want to see what I’ve been up to check out my weekly blog over on the Tempo Pilates website.  Oh! I almost forgot, the X-press classes are set to the awesome soundtracks that Tempo Pilates are known for, check out a few of my favourites below.